Isomerization of saturated hydrocarbons



Patented Aug. 27, 1946 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ISOMERIZATION OF SATURATED HYDROCARBONS Herman Pines and Richard C. Wackher, Riverside, Ill., assignors to Universal Oil Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware I Y N Drawing. Application November-19, 1943,

Serial No. 510,914

14 Claims. (Cl. 260-683.5)

mally liquid paraflinic hydrocarbons such as pentane, hexanes, heptanes, etc., which upon isomerization produce compounds which have very desirable antiknock properties when included in aviation gasoline blends and other motor fuels. Moreover, these i'somerized products, especially the isomers having at least one tertiary carbon atom per molecule, may be alkylated with an alkylating agent such as an olefin, alcohol, etc., to produce higher molecular weight alkyl derivatives which have very desirable antiknock qualities and which are useful intermediates in organic synthesis.

It is well known that saturated hydrocarbons may be isomerized using catalysts of the Friedel- Crafts type such as aluminum halides, zinc halides, zirconium halides, or mixtures thereof in the presence of a hydrogen halide. The primary operating difliculty accompanying these isomerization operations is the tendency toward high catalyst consumption due to the formation of metal halide-hydrocarbon complexes. The catalyst 2 difliculties which are inherent in the use of hydrogen.

Broadly, the invention comprises a process for isomerizing a saturated hydrocarbon by contacting said hydrocarbon with an isomerizing catalyst under isomerization conditions in the presence of a relatively minor amount of an aromatic hydrocarbon containing at least two monocyclic aryl nuclei.

In one specific embodiment the present invention comprises a process for the production of isopentane by contacting normal pentane with an aluminum chloride-hydrogen chloride catalyst complexes or sludges are formed by the interaction of the metal halide with the products of decomposition reactions which occur simultaneously with the isomerization reaction. I

Various methods have been proposed to preven the decomposition of the saturated hydrocarbons thereby preventing high catalyst consumptions. For example, it has been proposed to introduce hydrogen into the reaction zone to suppress decomposition and presumably to hydrogenate unsaturated hydrocarbon fragments formed by decomposition of the charging stock. The use of hydrogen as a decomposition suppressor has been found to be very expensive and entails the use of a considerable amount of auxiliary equipment such as compressors, separators, etc., to provide a means for recycling the hydrogen to the reaction zone.

It is an object .of the present invention to provide a method for suppressing the decomposition of the isomerizable hydrocarbons which is economical and practical and which obviates the under isomerizing conditions in the presence of a relatively minor amount of diphenyl.

We have discovered that the addition of these aromatic hydrocarbons selectively suppresses the decomposition reactions and permits the isomerization of the saturated hydrocarbons with a high degree of efiiciency and low catalyst consumption. The exact'm'echanism by which the aromatic hydrocarbons suppress decomposition reactions is not thoroughly understood, but it will be evident from the experimental data hereinafter presented that greatly improved results are obtained when these hydrocarbons are present.

The aromatic hydrocarbons which may be employed within the scope of our invention to suppress decomposition reactions during the isomerization of saturated hydrocarbons comprise broadly those hydrocarbons containing at least two monocyclic aryl nuclei; It will thus be seen that the principal classes of aromatic hydrocarbons falling within the scope of our invention are (1) the diaryls, for example diphenyl and clitolyl, (2) the triaryls, such as terphenyl, and (3) the diarylalkanes, for example diphenylmethane, diphenylethane, phenyltolylmethane, etc.

The various aromatics are not necessarily equivalent in their effectiveness since obviously different amounts of aromatic may be required dependent upon the nature of the catalyst and charging stock and also upon the operating conditions employed. The concentration of the aromatic in the isomerization charging stock is generall from about 0.1% to about 5% by weight. The use of the above mentioned aromatic hydrocarbons to suppress decomposition reactions is particularly applicable to the isomerization of normal pentane since normal pentane exhibits an unusual tendency to undergo decomposition when subjected to isomerizing conditions. The various aromatic hydrocarbons are separated from the isomerization reaction products by fractionation or other suitable means the isomerization step.

The operating conditions of the isomerization process such as temperature and pressure will vary somewhat depending upon the aromatic and catalyst employed. Ordinarily, temperatures within the range of about 50 F. to about 350 F. and more preferably within the range of from about 120 F. to about 250 F. and pressures varying from substantially atmospheric to about 500 pounds per square inch or more are desirable.

Any of the well-known Friedel-Crafts type isomerization catalysts may be employed. It is desirable that a hydrogen halide such as hydrogen chloride and hydrogen bromide be used in conjunction with these catalytic materials. The

and may be recycled to ordinary concentration of the hydrogen halide is f within the range of about 1 to about 40 mol per cent of the charge and preferably from about 5 to about mol per cent. The preferred catalysts comprise the chlorides and bromides of aluminum, zinc, zirconium, and iron, either alone or in admixture with one another. These catalysts may be employed in the solid granular state or upon inert supporting materials such as alumina, silica, thoria, crushed firebrick, quartz, activated clays, and activated chars.

It is also within the scope of this invention to employ mixtures of these compounds and in particular the aluminum halides with the halides of antimony, bismuth, and arsenic, to form catalyst composites which are molten under the conditions of operation.

The isomerization operation may be conducted in various ways. For example, the heated hydrocarbon charge containing the added aromatic may be passed either in the liquid, vapor, or mixed phase through a reaction zone containing a bed of solid granular catalyst either supported or unsupported, and the reaction product may be separated into the desired isomers and unconverted material the latter being recycled to the reaction zone. 7

Another method of operation consists of employing a catalyst supply chamber containing a bed of granular catalyst through which a stream of the charge is passed in liquid phase to dissolve the required amount of catalyst. This catalyst-containing stream is introduced into a reaction zone along with a regulated amount of the hydrogen halide, and a substantial portion of the hydrocarbon is isomerized therein. This re-' action zone may comprise a large vessel which will provide sufficient time for the reactionto occur or may be filled with a retaining material such as molten salts, hydrocarbon-metal halide complexes, or solid packing materials such as bauxite, Raschig rings, berl saddles, granular quartz and other materials well known to those skilled in the art.

The following examples illustrate in a general way the effectiveness of the aromatic hydrocarbons disclosed herein in suppressing decomposition reactions during the isomerization operation. It is not intended that these examples unduly limit the generally broad scope of this invention.

A series of experiments was conducted to investigate the effort of diphenyl and diphenylmethane in the normal pentane isomerization reaction. An electrically heated autoclave equipped with a mechanical stirrer was charged with 85 grams of normal pentane and the designated amount of aromatic, and anhydrous aluminum chloride and hydrogen chloride were added. The

l autoclave was sealed and the reaction was carried out for a period of six hours. A blank run was also made without the addition of an aromatic to suppress decomposition reactions. The pertinent data from these tests are tabulated as follows:

Run No.

Charge, grams:

Aluminum chloride 15 Hydrogen chloride. i ii 2 8 2. 8 l 2.6

n-Pcntane 85 Dlphenyl 0 1 2.0 l 0 Dipheuylmethane. 0 0 2. 0 Temperature, C 75- Maximum pressure, p. s. i. gage.. 110 78 I 62 Analysis of product, mol per ce i-Butane 54.1 2. 5 2 4 n-Butane 8. 1 O. l

1-Ientaue. 19. 2 31. 5 35. 3

n-Pentane 11. 8 65. 1 60.1

Hexane and higher 6.8 0.8 2. 2

In run 1, which was the blank run, it will be noted that although 19.2% isopentane was obtained there was also a total butane production of 62.2% which represents a relatively low efliciency of conversion to isopentane. In run 2 employing diphenyl, 31.5% isopentane was obtained with only 2.6% of butane thus indicating the marked efiect of diphenyl in suppressing decomposition reactions. It will also be noted in run 2 that 65.1% of unconverted normal pentane was recovered which could be recycled for further conversion in a continuous method of operation.

In run 3 diphenylmethane was employed to suppress decomposition. Comparing the results of this test with the results obtained in run 1 it will be noted that the presence of this aromatic hydrocarbon suppressed the butane production to a very marked extent and resulted in a high yield of isopentane.

We claim as our invention:

1. An isomerization process which comprises contacting a parafiin hydrocarbon under isomerizing conditions with a metal halide isomerizing catalyst of the Friedel-Crafts type in the presenceof a relatively minor amount of an aromatic hydrocarbon containing at least two monocyclic aryl nuclei.

2. An isomerization process which comprises contacting a normally liquid parafiin hydrocarbon with a Friedel-Crafts type isomerizing catalyst under isomerizing conditions and in the presence of an aromatic hydrocarbon containing at least two monocyclic aryl nuclei.

3. An isomerization process which comprises contacting a normall liquid paramn hydrocarbon with a metal halide of the Friedel-Crafts type and a hydrogen halide under isomerizing conditions in the presence of an aromatic hydrocarbon containing at least two monocyclic aryl nuclei.

4. An isomerization process which comprises contacting a normally liquid paraflin with an aluminum chloride catalyst and hydrogen chloride under isomerizing conditions and in the presence of an aromatic hydrocarbon containing at least two monocyclic aryl nuclei.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon comprises a diaryl.

6. The process of claim 1 wherein said aromati hydrocarbon comprises a diarylalkane.

7. The process of claim 1 wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon comprises diphenyl.

8. The process of claim 1 wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon comprises diphenylmethane.

9. An isomerization process which comprises contacting normal pentane with a metal halide isomerizing catalyst of the Friedel-Crafts type under isomerizing conditions in the presence of' an aromatic hydrocarbon containing at least two monocyclic aryl nuclei.

10. An isomerization process which comprises contacting normal pentane with an aluminum chloride catalyst and hydrogen chloride under isomerizing conditions in the presence of an aro- I cyclic aryl nuclei.

11. The process of claim 10 wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon comprises a diaryl.

12. The process of claim 10 wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon comprises a diarylalkane.

13. The process of claim 10 wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon comprises diphenyl.

14. The process of claim 10 wherein said aromatic hydrocarbon comprises diphenylmethane.

HERMAN PINES. RICHARD C. WACKHER. 

